Social Net-dork

Okay, where are all of you people coming from?!

I will update my blog, get a comment or two, and then a few days later I’ll see that I have had an increase in “followers.” So odd... But don’t get me wrong! I love thinking that people are actually reading my rants. It boosts my social networking ego. With all of the ego-points I lose on Facebook, the points I gain on here balance everything out.

And this is the point in the blog post where I realize that everything up to this point sounded absolutely ridiculous. Social networking, in essence, is ridiculous, and maybe, just maybe, I need to get a life.

Actually, I do have a life. And a pretty great one at that. Granted, things haven’t been exactly peachy lately since I’ve had to switch anxiety meds (which, if you know anything about being on them, you know that switching medicines makes your body and mind feel like it is in a constant state of being hit by a Mack truck. More or less.) Also, I’ve had personal things to sort through lately concerning family and school, but that’s to be expected. Since I’ve switched meds (because the first clearly wasn’t working), my skin picking has gotten a little worse, or maybe I’ve just become less willing to combat it, but hopefully the new medicine will kick in and curb some of the urges to pick. I really want my legs to heal soon so that I can wear shorts and cute dresses again and not feel self-conscious. It’s very discouraging to have to wear jeans on a gorgeous day because you had a terrible picking episode the night before and don’t want anyone to ask about it.

Anyway, on to some happy things. I’ve been volunteering for a couple of hours each week in an ESL class. I LOVE IT. I’ve met some of the coolest people from Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Cuba, etc. This past week I got to help a woman from Brazil practice her conversational skills during class since she will only be here for a few more days and wants to practice with English speakers. Since she will only be in Tuscaloosa for a little while, we have planned to meet up out of class to practice English more. I’m ecstatic. I don’t know what it is about teaching people, whether it’s Spanish or English, but it gives me a sense of purpose. And the people I’ve met so far are so willing to learn and ardently practicing that it motivates me to learn about their home countries and cultures. Awesome stuff.

Now, I shall leave you with some entertainment that I hope brightens your day a bit as they have brightened mine.

-         This chipmunk is freakin’ adorable. Why? Because he’s in slow-motion. As if it wasn’t cute enough to watch them clean themselves in real-time…

-   Check out RightBrainTerrain.com. Terral's designs are on FI-YAH.

    Some of his designs:

Okay, enjoy, go crazy, have fun. Leave me lovely comments of delicious magnificence.

Love,

Dani

God Can Be Funny

Happy Valentine's Day. This is the first year I actually care about it because it's way cuter when you have someone to buy a present for. That isn't yourself.

Not that it's bad to buy yourself gifts, of course. I think it would be fun to add a personal gift message to items that you buy online like, "Hey, we haven't met, but I've been admiring you from afar and thought you might like a new pair of Tom's shoes. You totally deserve it!" or "I don't know you, but I've seen you around once or twice and thought I'd send this to you in hopes of brightening your day. Have a good one!" Thinking about the reactions of the people shipping it from the warehouse makes it way more fun.
Or not. So, my boyfriend likes to surprise me by leaving cute things in my car for me to find the next day. Today, it was candy and a lovely card. I love that. He's done something like this a couple of times, but oddly enough, it still catches me off-gaurd. But I like it.

I think God was sending me a Valentine's Day gift today, too. Last Friday I missed school (by my own choice; didn't feel like going), but later I felt a little stressed because I realized i had missed a quiz that my English teacher talked about the last class, and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it up. Being the uptight white chick that I am, I silently stressed about it all weekend and let it gnaw at me. "No big deal, no big deal, just a quiz...Oh my gosh.. I missed a quiz. It will probably bring my grade down..." and thus began the hamster wheel of counter productive thinking.

I got to class this morning, and I asked a friend about what all I missed on Friday. She said that the teacher had to cancel last minute, so everyone got to leave shortly after class was supposed to begin. Sooo, no quiz.

I could hear God laughing quietly at me as I thought about this later while walking to my next class. Well, I didn't actually hear God laughing, but I got the impression that he was telling me, "I told you so, silly kid." Kind of like a, "See? You really didn't have to freak out all weekend. I had it all taken care of." He does this a lot, but oddly enough, it still catches me off-gaurd. But I like it.

ESL, DIY, and Shoutouts

On Monday I went to my first ESL class to volunteer. I'm in love.

Learning about other people from other countries is so amazing and interesting and fantastic and I shouldn't be this excited about having a simple conversation with someone, but I am. I talked mostly with two women, Ednéia and Aída, and I was thrilled that we could all communicate and learn so much about each other. Ednéia, a energetic and youthful 49 year old woman from Brazil, speaks fluent Portuguese, but she also knew a little Spanish and is, of course, learning English. Aída, a quiet but friendly 30 year old woman, is from Mexico, so I could understand nearly all of what she was saying. Either way, we all were able to piece together our knowledge of the languages to communicate.

In case you didn't know (or if I haven't already talked about it on my blog..I really don't remember...), I am re-vamping my room. It used to be a playroom/den, so it is very spacious, but the walls were white and the carpet was old from years of wear and tear. We painted the walls a pale yellow and got new, plush, brown carpet. Definitely makes the room a little cosier.

I bought a desk at a local antique shop ( I adore antique/thrift store shopping. I get a high off bargains and vintage items). The desk is in great shape and is of aged wood, but I won't have to refinish it because it is in such great condition. I really like the old, rustic look. How much did I pay? $25 bucks! How's 'bout them apples.

My great friend, Lori, is witness to this bargain. We go antiquing together in search of cool items to repurpose. You should really take a look at her blog she just started that displays her DIY projects, and also take a look at her "One a Day" project of awesome sketches (see graphic to the right).

Also, check out my new side widget that displays some of my favorite sites/blogs. There are some pretty cool ones worth looking into. If you know of a site that deserves to be on one of the lists, let me know and I'll take a look.

I'd like to give a shout out to this site as well:

Although the picture says it's for sharing stories about college, it's really for all stages of life (the college stage is just the only one that applies to me right now!). There's high school, marriage, being on your own, and many others. Ch-ch-check it outtt.

That's all I got for now. Thanks for reading :)

Contemplations of a Sleep-Deprived Mind. And a Poll.

Hello people,

Firstly, thank you so much your comments and messages. They mean a lot to me. I thrive off the thought that I'm connecting with people. Maybe social networking is turning me into an attention-seeking teen blogger who thinks what she had for lunch is going to rock someone's world, but I don't think I'll ever get to that point. Honest to blog.
I kind of have this outlook that might sound a little like I'm being a downer or not reaching for the stars, but I'm actually a very optimistic person. But I'm also realistic. So, think about a person about whom most everyone in the world has heard of since his or her time on this earth. Shakespeare's a good guess. But think about it. What did he do? He wrote some plays (granted, most were some incredible works with insurmountable literary merit), but what he did was one in a gazillion-bajillion(hover).. That's a lot, homes.
What does this have to do with my outlook? I would like to say that I do not wish to establish myself as world-renowned or a household name. But I would like to make people think about things and to live deliberately, not passively, and in the processes, teach myself to do the same. Afterall, if I had already mastered these things, what fun would it be to read a bunch of sermons of a self-proclaimed life guru?

And now, I step down from my soap box (hover) and ask that you take a look at (and participate in) this poll I made. I'm just curious about the results.

What kind of content do you want to read about on this site?

• Reviews - Of products, experiences, people, or all three.
• Your life - Keep it nice and breezy. Nothing deep and contemplative.
• Your mom - No, really. That lady's crazy. Tell me more.
• Your life - Let's hear your story. What you think. What you do. Even if it's not always funny.
• Blog Challenges - Take up a challenge and write about it.

View Results
Create a Poll

My head is about to crash onto a pillow and I'm going to have bizarre dreams that I won't remember in the morning. Hurray.


Love,

Dani